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Short accounts of historic trails of the world and the people who traveled them for trade or migration.




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Francis Parkman,  Part 1: A Bad Beginning

2/27/2021

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Picture
PictureThis undated photo shows a young Parkman, probably taken near the time of his trip on the Oregon Trail.
Roger M McCoy    
        
     
“The Oregon Trail” by Francis Parkman makes it clear that expeditions across the west had great potential for mistakes and accidents. The migrants on western trails must have had some first-day thoughts…anticipation? hope? anxiety? apprehension? regret? They took such a tremendous leap into unknown territory and into an unfamiliar new life. Parkman’s account gives many insights that most travelers’ diaries do not, and it has been widely read since its first publication in 1847. He writes a vivid image of the hustle and busyness of river port cities and assembly points such as St. Louis, Independence, and Westport, Missouri.
    Francis Parkman was not an emigrant, rather he was making a trip to hunt and to satisfy his curiosity as a trained historian. He entered Harvard at age sixteen and after graduation entered law school. The son of a wealthy Boston family, Parkman had sufficient money to pursue his interests without concern about finances. In addition his income was supplemented by royalties from books he authored. He traveled across North America, visiting most of the historical locations he wrote about, and made frequent trips to Europe seeking original documents with which to further his research.    
    In the spring of 1846 Francis Parkman, with “friend and relative” Quincy Shaw, left St. Louis in a river steamboat loaded with emigrants, merchandise, mules, horses and “a multitude of nondescript articles.” In a boat that was  “loaded until the water broke alternately over her guards.” He wrote that the heavily loaded river steamer, “struggled upward for seven or eight days against the rapid current of the Missouri River, grating upon snags, and hanging for two or three hours at a time upon sand-bars.” He wrote a vivid description of the overloaded riverboat and its array of passengers.
                  Her upper deck was covered with large weapons of a peculiar
                  form, for the Santa Fe trade, and her hold was crammed with
                  goods for the same destination. There were also the gear and                                  provisions of a party of Oregon emigrants; a band of mules and                              horses, piles of saddles and harness, and a multitude of
                  nondescript articles, indispensable on the prairies. …In the
                  boat’s cabin were Santa Fe traders, gamblers, speculators,
                  and adventurers of various descriptions, and her steerage was                                crowded with Oregon emigrants and “mountain men,” negroes,
                  and a party of Kansas Indians, who had been on a visit to
                  St. Louis.

     As they neared Independence, Missouri, Parkman “began to see signs of the great western movement that was then taking place. Parties of emigrants, with their tents and wagons, would be encamped on open spots near the bank, on their way to the common rendezvous at Independence.” Parkman conveys a clear picture of the excitement and anticipation among the accumulation of travelers waiting to begin their overland journey…traders headed for Santa Fe, immigrants to far-off California or Oregon, Indians returning to Mexico, French hunters from the mountains with their long hair and buckskin dress.
    Independence was a port city on the river and for emigrants it was the beginning of a 2,170 mile wagon journey to the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Imagine the crowds of people debarking the boat in Independence in anticipation for a new life in a new land.  From the Independence docks they traveled overland about twelve miles to Westport, Missouri where they bought mules, horses, wagons, and provisions. Westport at that time was on the western edge of the United States, and the starting point for most westward travelers whether headed to Santa Fe, California, or Oregon. What is now Kansas was still seven years from designation as a territory of the United States.
    In Westport Parkman met a Scot, identified only as Captain C., who had been in the British Army, his brother (unnamed), and Mr. R., an Englishman. For reasons of safety and mutual support they decided to join forces and travel to Oregon together. In addition, Captain C. had employed a Canadian hunter named Delorier and an American [unnamed] as a muleteer. Captain C. had already acquired a number of horses and mules for packing provisions.    
    One day while waiting for departure Parkman went to Westport and described the high activity in the city:
                     The town was crowded. A multitude of shops had sprung
                     up to furnish the emigrants and traders with necessaries
                     for their journey; and there was an incessant hammering
                     and banging from a dozen blacksmiths’ sheds, where the 
                     heavy wagons were being repaired, and the horses and
                     oxen shod. The streets were thronged with men, horses,
                     and mules. While I was in the town, a train of emigrant
                     wagons from Illinois passed through, to join the camp on
                     the prairie, and stopped in the principal street. A multitude
                     of healthy children’s faces were peeping out from under
                     the covers of the wagons. … Whisky by the way circulates
                     more freely in Westport than is altogether safe in a place
​                     where every man carries a loaded pistol in his pocket.



    Parkman tended to show a low regard for most immigrants, and his comments on them was often disparaging. He especially showed disdain for the uneducated farmers hoping for a new life, Germans, French, Blacks, and Indians. For instance he expressed doubts that some of them could actually believe they would have better lives elsewhere.
                      Among them are some of the vilest outcasts in the country.
                      I have often perplexed myself to divine the various motives
                      that give impulse to this strange migration; but whatever
                      they may be, whether an insane hope of a better condition
                      in life, or a desire of shaking off restraints of law and society,
                      or mere restlessness, certain it is that multitudes bitterly
                      repent the journey, and after they have reached the land
                      of promise are happy enough to escape from it.

    Remember Parkman came from a prominent Boston family and probably had little contact with other types of people who populated the midwestern and southern states.
    After eight days of preparation in Westport, Parkman and his traveling companions were ready to embark with their wagon and animals. A few days into Kansas Territory they were hit by an intense thunderstorm. Anyone from the midwest has seen such terrific storms.
                     We were leading a pair of mules to Kansas when the storm
                     broke. Such sharp and incessant flashes of lightning, such
                     stunning and continuous thunder, I have never known before.
                    The woods were completely obscured by the diagonal sheets
                    of rain that fell with a heavy roar, and rose in spray from the
                    ground; and the streams rose so rapidly that we could hardly
                    ford them.

    The storm caused them to return “drenched and bedraggled” the few miles back to Westport. Unfortunately the onset of his long journey was beset by false starts and needless mishaps. A few days later, with clear weather and renewed provisions, they made another near-disastrous beginning. “No sooner were our animals put in harness, than one mule reared and plunged, burst ropes and straps, and nearly flung the cart into the Missouri.” Not long after that experience their wagon became mired in “a deep muddy gully” that delayed them for another hour. Surprisingly this bad beginning left Parkman undiscouraged and determined to continue forward.
     Parkman gives good descriptions of the men he hired for the trip. He described the hunter and guide, Henry Chatillon, as a rather dour character who:
                  
wore a white blanket-coat, a broad hat of felt, moccasins,
                  and pantaloons of deerskin, ornamented along the seams
                  with rows of long fringes. His knife was stuck in his belt; his
                  bullet-pouch and powder-horn hung at his side, and his rifle
                  lay before him, resting against the high pommel of his saddle,
                  which, like all his equipment, had seen hard service, and was
                  much the worse for wear.

     Unlike Chatillon, the Canadian hunter, Delorier, was a man of pleasant character who worked hard and maintained a cheerful disposition in the most difficult times as shown by Parkman’s description:
                  Neither fatigue, exposure, nor hard labor could ever impair
                  his cheerfulness and gayety, or his  politeness to his bourgeois;
                  and when night came he would sit down by the fire, smoke his
                  pipe, and tell stories with the utmost contentment. In fact, the
                 prairie was his congenial element.

     A few hours’ ride brought them to the banks of the Kansas River. They passed through the woods that lined the river and encamped not far from the bank. Finally after several beginnings to their trip Parkman wrote, “Our tent was erected for the first time on a meadow close to the woods, and the camp preparations being complete we began to think of supper.” Then Parkman took his rifle and went to hunt for dinner.
                A multitude of quails were plaintively whistling in the woods and                              meadows; but nothing appropriate to the rifle was to be seen,
                except three buzzards, seated on the spectral limbs of an old
                dead sycamore, their ugly heads drawn down between their
                shoulders. …as they offered no epicurean temptations, I
                refrained from disturbing their enjoyment; and contented myself
                with admiring the calm beauty of the sunset. …and the river,
                eddying swiftly in deep purple shadows between the impending
                woods, formed a wild but tranquilizing scene. [One hopes the hired                          hunters had better results.]



    At last Parkman and his group were underway and headed for Oregon.


Source:
Parkman, Francis, The Oregon Trail. Heritage Press, 1943. (original publication 1849.)

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Roman Roads: From Ruts to Rails

2/1/2021

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Picture
Roman road network at its maximum, about 350 CE.
Picture
Roman road under construction. Note the surveyor using a "groma." He aligned the strings to project a straight line or turn an angle.
Picture
A portion of the Appian Way near Rome. It was named for the builder, Appius Claudius Caecus in 312 BCE.
Picture1840 railroad with stagecoaches on rails.
 Roger M McCoy

    Roman roads, like major roads today, were built for communication, transport of goods, and movement of armies. The distinction of Roman roads is that they were the first roads forming a network connecting much of Europe and the Middle East, and they were also the first in Europe to be constructed with a base layer covered with paving stones, much as roads are built today. Not all their roads, however, were the same quality. Important and heavily used, long-distance roads were built for durability and many have endured to the present.
    Roman builders used whatever materials were at hand to construct their roads, but their design always employed multiple layers. Crews began by digging shallow, three-foot deep trenches and erecting small retaining walls along either side of the proposed route. The bottom section of the road was usually made of leveled earth and mortar or sand topped with small stones. This was followed by foundation layers of crushed rocks or gravel cemented with lime mortar. Finally, the surface layer was constructed using neatly arranged blocks made from gravel, pebbles, iron ore, cut stones, or hardened volcanic lava. Roads were built with a crown and adjacent ditches to ensure easy water drainage, and in some rainy regions they were even positioned on raised berms to prevent flooding. The main roads were built 13.8 feet wide to accommodate two vehicles passing.
      On the other hand, minor roads might be merely a dirt or gravel track connecting minor towns to major roads. This certainly sounds the same as road systems in use today. After a major road was built, Roman soldiers patrolled them to guard against thieves and to collect tolls. The illustration above shows a drawing of a major road under construction.
    As with all their construction, the Romans were precise about their road-building. Roman surveyors used a groma, a set of wooden pieces in the shape of a cross that had lead weights on the ends. Lining up the weight hanging off one piece of wood with the piece hanging off the one in front guaranteed a straight line; from that workers could put wooden posts in the ground and then extend the road along the line. The Romans usually preferred to build roads in a straight line regardless of terrain. They drained or filled in marshy areas, or cleared a path through forests. Occasionally they made short deviations around rocky hills, but sometimes they excavated solid rock to maintain a straight line. During road construction the Romans added milestones one thousand paces apart (one Roman mile, 0.92 statute miles).
    Another little known use of the roads was for tourism; many Roman citizens simply had an urge to visit parts of their far-flung empire and the roads made this possible.  Romans were especially interested in visiting sites associated with their Gods and myths. The Romans also had a postal system and mail wagons using the roads to distribute mail throughout the empire in a relay system similar to the U.S. Pony Express. The constant traffic of Roman chariots, carts, and wagons created ruts in the stone surface of the roads that were carefully used and maintained because the ruts kept the wheels moving in straight lines, avoiding tipping over. In all, the Romans  built more than 250,000 miles of roads that formed a network over their empire. This extensive network was a key element for their control of Western Europe and the Middle East.    
    As Romans came under increasing attack by various tribes of people over Europe, they eventually withdrew to the confines of Rome which finally fell around 400 A.D. The Roman road construction left a lasting impression in two ways. First is the continued use of some Roman routes, and even today many modern roads follow the routes of the original Roman roads with minor variation. The second lasting effect is an interesting story that concerns the width of the axles on Roman wagons and chariots.
    You may have wondered (though probably not) why the standard width of today’s railroad track is 4 feet, 8.5 inches (4.708 ft). One answer, which is probably only partially true, is a matter of getting the horse before the cart…literally. The story says that the width of a horse’s rear first determined the axle width of a cart. If the axle is wider it increases the work for the horse and makes turning more difficult.          
     After the Romans left their territories in northern Europe many roads fell into disuse, but some continued to be used by the local people who built their carts to fit into the ruts left by Roman chariots and wagons.    
    By the seventeenth century English stagecoaches began to use the old Roman roads and their axle width was also designed to conform to the ruts. The date of the first use of stagecoaches as a means of public transport is not definitely known, but the first mention came as early as the thirteenth century, and they probably existed for some time before that.
    In 1649 Edward Chamberlayne described his impression of stagecoach travel in his writings titled, Angliæ Notitia: Or the Present State of England.    
                    Besides the excellent arrangement of conveying men
                    and letters on horseback, there is of late such an
                   admirable commodiousness, both for men and women,
                   to travel from London to the principal towns in the country,
                   that the like hath not been known in the world, and that
                   is by stage-coaches, wherein any one may be transported
                   to any place, sheltered from foul weather and foul ways;
                   free from endangering one's health and by the hard jogging
                   or over-violent motion; and this not only at a low price (about
                   a shilling for every five miles), but with such velocity and
                  speed in one hour, as that the posts in some foreign
                  countries make in a day.
                         (NOTE: One shilling in 1649 would be approximately twenty-five U.S.                                                           cents today.)
     When English steam railroads first began in the early nineteenth century, the builders saw no reason to design a new and different vehicle for passengers. They simply adapted the stagecoach for use on rails. The conveyance pulled by real horses would now be pulled by an “iron horse” on rails. According to this premise, the axle width of the stage coaches determined the gauge of the railroad tracks. As the British developed their empire during the nineteenth century they built railroads of the same gauge in every country they occupied.
     There is no certain proof that a linear connection actually exists between the width of Roman carts, stagecoaches, and the gauge of railroads. Perhaps it is simply a strong coincidence.
      Another story is related to rail gauges, rockets, and horses’ rears. The big rocket boosters attached to the side of a space shuttle are built by Thiokol at their plant in northern Utah. These boosters had to ship by rail from the Utah factory across the Rocky Mountains to a launch site in Florida. En route they had to pass through tunnels that were just slightly wider than the train cars, and this width put a constraint on the design size of the rocket boosters. One could suggest, therefore, that the dimensions of modern space vehicles and the rail system were both influenced 2,000 years ago by the width of horses’ rumps. The truth of this connection is also uncertain but it makes a plausible story.
    At the beginning of nineteenth century railroad building in the United States there was some variation in rail gauge. In the South particularly, the Confederacy built railroads of three different gauges. Historian James McPherson pointed out that this lack of standardization created an inefficiency that slowed distribution of goods and contributed to the defeat of the Confederacy. After the Civil War railroad tracks in the South were rebuilt to create a national uniformity of gauge. The important outcome, regardless of rail gauge, is a present day world network of railroad tracks, using the original British stagecoach axle gauge of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches.

Sources

Appian Way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appian_Way
David Mikkelson. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/railroad-gauge-chariots/   
Roman Roads.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_roads
Roman Roads. http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/
                          worldhistory/romanroads.htm
Roman Roads. https://www.ancient.eu/article/758/roman-roads/

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